The Training Process

Bydebi

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18 Jan, 2016

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What goes into training a Hound for a HeroWritten by: Neitha Engert, Volunteer Coordinator and Service Dog Trainer

You've seen several posts now by Tucker, a Service Dog in training, about what it's like to be in the Hounds for Heroes program. For this post, we thought we'd give you a more thorough and big-picture understanding of what goes into training.

Every dog is unique, and every trainer is unique. But one thing is for sure -- training a service dog is an adventure every time!

When
a dog comes to us from a shelter, rescue, or owner surrender, they
spend their first week adjusting to their new home and family (often
this the first time they have been allowed inside a house!). Slowly
they begin to leave the home and venture around the neighborhood. The
handler and dog attend their first training class after two weeks out of
the shelter (we need to make sure they do not show any signs of
illness). But that doesn't mean that training is on hold. Rarely does a
dog come to us walking like a champ! Loose leash walking is an
important skill and there are many different ways to teach your foster
to stay close at your left side. Basic commands can be taught during
this time as well. A minimum commitment of 45 minutes per day is
required, but most trainers go way above this minimum.

Once
training classes begin, it's full speed ahead. As well as practicing
the tasks learned in class, the dogs start visiting dog friendly
locations. Home Depot is a favorite for trainers, as there are minimal
distractions (i.e. no FOOD! TOYS!). Click here
for a complete list
of retailers that allow dogs. Throughout the training process it is
important to expose the dogs to as many different environments as
possible. These include things like: people wearing hoodies,
sunglasses, hats, crying babies, balloons, ducks, etc. I've been known
to make a u-turn just to get the experience to walk by a little person
or someone wearing a head scarf!

After usually
2-4 months the trainer and dog are ready to take the next big step --
going to non-dog friendly establishments. Not so fast -- there is a test
that needs to be passed first. Austin Dog Alliance requires each team
to pass the Canine Good Citizen test (CGC) before receiving the "service
dog in training" vest. This test ensures that the team is ready to
represent our organization in the best light possible. It doesn't mean
they're perfect, and they will still be in training. The test requires that they're able to walk politely through a crowd, greet a stranger, demonstrate
sit/stay, ignore another dog and much more. It is a very exciting day
when the dog receives his/her vest. Now the fun begins! The dog can
start going everywhere with their trainer.

Usually
the trainers live their normal lives and just include the dog in their
everyday errands. Sometimes it requires them to make an effort to visit
places they wouldn't normally go to, like the movies or coffee shop. Of
course the grocery store is something best saved for last, and in the
beginning, off-hours are recommended. Each dog is trained to perform a
minimum of 3 tasks to mitigate the symptoms for their new owner.
Trainers practice these tasks in different environments. For example,
an important task that is needed for almost every person suffering from
Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) is "get my back". The dog is trained to get
behind the owner and provide a buffer from people coming up on them
suddenly or crowding their space.

A match is
made about two months before the dog is finished with his/her training.
This allows the trainer to tweak the tasks and add new tasks if
required. The new owner provides valuable information about their daily
lives, and more importantly, information about how they hope their
lives will change once they receive their dog. One question I like to
ask is "what things did you do in the past that you would like to start
doing again?" That gives the trainer an opportunity to take the dog to
those places and prepare the dog for that environment. It's very
rewarding during "going home week" when you can take the dog and new
owner to those places and the owner can see immediately how their life
is about to be changed. This can be as simple as going the grocery
store again, or going to Monday night trivia.

Finally
the time has come for the dog to start training with their new owner!
This could be month 6 or month 8 -- remember, every trainer and dog is
unique and learn at a different speeds. " Going home week" is comprised of
30-40 hours of hands-on training. The new owner takes the leash and
begins to train the dog. In a way it is like the dog never knew these
commands and we start all over. Each person has a different voice tone,
or a slightly different hand movement, etc. But these dogs are so
smart that they pick it up quickly. The owners are taught the tasks, as
well as how to care for the dog. The trainer makes sure they visit a
variety of different places and have time to bond during this week. At
the end of the week they take the dog home and introduce them slowly to
their house, neighborhood, etc. After one week they return to Austin
Dog Alliance to complete the last step, the public access test. It is
only after successful completion that they receive the coveted red
Service Dog vest with a picture of both of them tucked in the side.

A
going home party is planned to celebrate the dog, the owner, and the
trainer. At the end of the night we go our separate ways, but it is
definitely not good-bye. The trainer will follow up with the owner on a
daily basis at first, then weekly and then monthly. We invite them
back to the center to work on any issues that may arise. And of course,
we love to get happy updates as well! It's an amazing gift to see this
team together and realize that we had a part in giving them their life
back.

Editor's note:
The time line provided in this article is for a very experienced
trainer with a carefully selected dog. Every dog will not succeed and
the timeline for an inexperienced trainer can be substantially longer.

Maggie, Service Dog in Training

P.S. Now that you know what goes into training, we thought we'd let you hear from another Service Dog currently in the program! Meet Maggie:

Hi, and Happy New Year! My name is Maggie. I am a very special dog
because I get to go places that other dogs are not allowed. My foster
mom, Donna, says it's because I'm in training to be a service dog
through Austin Dog Alliance! You
wouldn't believe the places I've been and the things I've seen. At
first, I was just scared to death -- I wouldn't even take treats. Everyone called me sweet and calm, but I was just hoping the floor
would swallow me up. I had no idea why they took me into a room with a
lot of other dogs and people. Some of the dogs were acting crazy, and some
were in cages. People were opening and closing doors
and moving chairs and clicking things and holding treats in front of my
nose! Now I feel a little silly when I think about it. People are nice,
treats are yummy, and the other dogs won't hurt me. Things got even
crazier after I passed the Canine Good Citizen test and got my vest. My
foster mom says that through it all, I have stayed steady by her side
and acted like a calm, sweet dog. Maybe that is really why I'm special. Please consider donating to my fund to help make sure I get to go to my forever home with a veteran in need as soon as possible - click here
!Woof!Maggie

The Alliance Blog

Our new kennels (more like private suites!) are open. Which means it's time to get down to business!

These past few weeks, our staff has spent many hours evaluating shelter
dogs to find the select few who have the right temperament required to
be a service dog. Once brought into the Hounds for Heroes kennels, they meet with several different trainers daily and their
progress is tracked. The goal is to perfect basic manners before
earning the coveted vest, which allows them public assess to train in a
variety of environments.

Hi everybody! It’s
Tucker and guess what, I’m no longer a service dog in training. I’m now a full-fledged,
100% service dog. That’s the very
exciting news I was talking about in my previous post. I have been super busy being the best helper
ever to my forever person, so it’s taken me a while to have time to write this
last blog, but I didn’t want to leave all my peeps hanging!

Last month, mom and Debi set up a time for me to meet my
potential forever person. We were all a
little nervous about how the meeting would go.
After all, it meant I was going to be meeting the person I was going to
spend the rest of my life with -- pretty heavy stuff. Well, turns out that there was absolutely no
reason for nerves. The minute I saw my
forever dad, it was love at first sight for both of us. It was like my foster mom had left the
room. I immediately only had eyes for my
new dad. Mom and Debi laughed the
attachment was so obvious.

That didn’t mean we were home free, though. Mom and a team of service dog trainers worked with my new dad to teach him all of the commands that I'd spent the last several months perfecting. Of course, I did spectacularly!

After this, my mom and I said goodbye and I got to go to my
potential permanent home. Mom cried a
little and hugged and kissed me, but she actually did pretty good. She said it was because she knew I was going
to go to a new home where I would make a big difference in my new dad’s life.

I’m back! It’s me,
Tucker, continuing my saga of becoming a Service Dog. Sorry it’s been a while since I wrote, but
man, have I been busy. Today, I’ll tell
you about some of my new adventures out in the real world.

I’d been to Costco and done so well that mom decided it was
time to take me grocery shopping at HEB.
So that I wouldn’t be too intimidated at first, we made our first trip
early in the morning. I was a little
distracted, but every time I started to lose focus, mom asked me to “Watch Me”
and I immediately made eye contact with her.
We didn’t stay too long and mom only picked up a few items, but I was a
good boy and did a down stay at the checkout and waited for her to pay for our
selections.

Over the next few weeks, we made several more trips to the
grocery store during busier times of the day.
Now, I’m able to go with mom while she does all of her shopping for the
week, even going on the weekend. Mom says
that’s even hard for her to do!

Hello Everybody! It’s
Tucker the Service Dog in training again.
I’ve been really excited to tell you about a big adventure I had in my
journey to becoming a Service Dog. First,
let me tell you, Mom and I have been blowing and going since I got my new
vest. We’ve been to Target, Bed, Bath
and Beyond, Specs, Bicycle Sports Shop and a whole lot of other places. For the most part, I’m a perfect little
angel, although, I’m still working on ignoring other dogs.

One of the big milestones in my training came a few weeks
ago. I went to Costco. Well, anyone that has ever been to Costco
knows it’s a busy place. They have
lots of cool stuff and THEY HAVE PEOPLE FOOD!
Well, this was my first experience going somewhere that had a bunch of
people food. Mom, Susan and I walked all
around the store with a big basket past lots of different food. The hardest part of the whole experience was
walking down the meat aisle. I thought I
was in doggie heaven. I really wanted to
look at all the different meat, but Mom kept asking me to sit and watch her, so
I made it down the aisle with no mishaps.

Another thing I got to practice was settling. When Mom and Susan would stop to talk to
people about me, it was my job to lay down and wait patiently until they got
finished talking. I like doing this
since I can chill out and listen to all the nice things people say about
me. A lot of times, people have stories
to tell about their dogs or service dogs they’ve known. That part is cool, too.

"Having
Rocco come to our clinic is the highlight of many of
our clients weeks," explains Katie Duke, Clinical Director and Owner of OT Connection. "His owner Guille has had great ideas of how to
incorporate him into our Speech, Occupational, and Physical Therapy
sessions that highlight his 'tricks!' They walk him, brush
him, dress him up in costumes, command him to do tricks, have
tennis ball races, and so much more. The activities target fine motor
skills, bilateral coordination, expressive language, motor planning,
eye-hand coordination, and self-care/dressing skills.
Having Rocco involved in our sessions motivates many of our little ones
to participate in activities that weren’t able to be elicited before."

Guille, Rocco's owner, adopted Rocco 7 years ago. They soon realized that he had a
naturally calm temperament, and she and her husband decided to
involve him in the Austin Dog Alliance Pet Therapy Program.

"Throughout the training process," Guille explained, "he responded very well to all of the
tests, including simulations of loud, crowded environments. When people
approached him, he would remain at ease."

The team visits
O.T. Connection on Tuesdays and Provident Crossings every other Thursday.

"I remember that at the beginning
I didn't quite understand how much dogs could help, but very soon I realized
that even with just their presence, the therapy dogs provide a feeling of peace that I could actually feel myself. I love being part of this program -- it is a joy to see that Rocco can make a child or an elderly individual smile and make them feel so relaxed.

We
are both learning every week how we can help them more, how we can make
them happier, and how we can make a difference every single time
we are there... and we are really enjoying it!"

Hi to everyone that’s been reading my blog. For those of you that haven’t been, my name
is Tucker and I’m a service dog in training with Austin Dog Alliance’s Hounds
for Heroes program.

Last time I told you about all my hard work in my Dog Manners
2 class. We continued to work on polite
behavior like letting a person walk up and waiting patiently by my mom’s side
until she told me it was okay to go say hi to them. That is totally tough for me since I really
like people, but I’m starting to get the hang of it.

Another funny thing we worked on was playing like we were
shopping in a store. I had to do a down
stay while mom pretended to try on some funny clothes and a hat. Boy, did I want to get up and laugh at her,
but I controlled myself and remained in my stay until she told me free (that’s
my release word that tells me it’s okay to get up)!

After 4 of my Dog Manners 2 classes, I was doing so well
that all the ladies who are trainers for Austin Dog Alliance decided I was
ready for the next HUGE step in my becoming a service dog. I was going to have to take a test! The test is called the Canine Good Citizen
test (also known as the CGC test). I was
kind of apprehensive but everyone assured me that I could do it, so I was
willing to give it a shot. The CGC test
has 10 parts. Several of the parts
demonstrate my obedience prowess. Well,
I could ace those, no problem. The other
items tested my ability to focus on my mom which was a little harder, but I
still did pretty good. Finally, my mom
had to leave me with a lady I didn’t know and walk out of my site for 3
MINUTES. That seemed like an eternity,
and I did cry (just a little), but I did it.

Guess what, I PASSED.
My reward for passing this test was an awesome surprise. I got my very own vest to wear that says
“Service Dog in Training”. My mom
was pleased as punch that I passed.
Getting my vest meant that I could start going to places that normally
don’t allow dogs -- can you imagine such a thing?

Our pet therapy teams are out in the community every day of
the week helping children learn, visiting hospitals and nursing homes along
with a wide array of other services. They really are a heroic group of people
and dogs.

But in addition to the routine requests we receive, we also
receive requests that are outside the norm, for example:

“Do you have a team that speaks Spanish? The dog needs to
speak Spanish too.” (Yes, we do!)

“Could you help us make a public service announcement? We
need a dog who can open a box, jump in and close it behind him.” (Yes, we can!)

We receive many requests for media appearances and calls
from all over the United States inquiring about our programs. But recently we received a request from a professor with UT
and MIT, Dr. Bradley Knox, who is developing an interactive, animatronic dog to -- hopefully -- help children learn.